Composite structures having a substrate made of a structural material such as glass/vinyl ester are presently utilized for shipboard use. Because of flammability concerns in regard to such structures, passive fire protection has been proposed involving attachment of insulation blankets by means of self tapping screws. Installation of such fire protection for composite structures is both labor intensive and costly, especially in Naval shipboard types of seawater environments. It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide less costly and less labor intensive fire protection for the foregoing referred to types of composite structures.